Mandy's Musings

Friday, 3 April 2015

My fellow writer and friend, Liv Thomas tagged me in –
My Lovely Blog Hop – to talk about some of the things that have shaped my life
and writing. It is a great way to
discover new blogs too.

First memory

I have a few, but one that is most vivid is a holiday in Cornwall
when I was four. We stayed in Looe, in a rickety old chalet on top of a cliff
and my older brother Martin and I would run down a sandy path to play on the
beach every day. When it was time for breakfast, Mum would wave a red towel
from the window and we’d run back up. I thought that was very exciting. On the
same holiday we walked around the harbour and saw sharks hanging on hooks by a
fishing boat. There was a sign saying – Please do not touch the sharks as their
skin is rough, or something like that anyway. I decided I’d test that theory
and grazed my finger. There was
something about Cornwall that thrilled me even at the age of four and it stayed
with me ever since. I live there now.

Books

Like many people of my age I grew up with Enid Blyton. Not
literally of course. She was much older than me and came from a different
background. But I did read all her Famous Five books and the Malory Towers ones.
They were set in a boarding school for girls in Cornwall. Perhaps these books
reinforced my love of Cornwall. My brother bought me a copy of The Lord of The
Rings when I was thirteen and I devoured it. I was totally swept away in the
adventure and derring-do. I can’t remember if I read The Hobbit first, I think
I did, and later I tried The Silmarillion but was defeated a few chapters in.
Perhaps I should try it again now I’m a bit older. As a young adult I read
Stephen King and Dean Koontz. Koontz remains one of my favourite authors and
he’s a lovely man too. He actually found the time to answer my letters when I
wrote to tell him he’d inspired me to have a go at writing my own novel. This
man has sold over 450 million books, but he still found the time to write to me
in his own handwriting. I treasure those
letters.

Libraries

I love the smell of a library and the little cardboard
tickets. I know they don’t have little cardboard tickets nowadays, but when I
was a kid they did. I always felt calm browsing the rows of books and saw it as
a place to relax and take my time. When I was a student the library was a
necessity really rather than a place of relaxation, as there always seemed to
be a deadline to meet, and latterly I haven’t really used the library. I know.
That is really bad and I must get it sorted. Libraries are treasure troves and
must be protected.

What’s your
passion?

Writing and walking by the sea on the cliff paths around the
Cornish coast. I get lots of writing ideas when I’m by the ocean.

Learning

I left school at 16 and couldn’t wait to get out of there. I
hated school mostly apart from the social side of things. I didn’t like being
told what to do and when to do it – still don’t. The only subjects I liked were
English and History. The teachers of those subjects were great, which of course
made all the difference to my enjoyment of the lessons. I left school with a
Grade 1 CSE in both of these subjects – the equivalent of a C at GCSE nowadays.
The rest of my grades were pitiful. I wanted to be a hairdresser until I
actually became one. Enough said about that the better. I then worked in a factory
until I got married at the age of 18 and had my daughter aged 19. Life has a
funny way of turning full circle though and by the time I was 30 I was back at
school – this time as a teacher. It would take too long to explain how I came
to do A’ levels, a degree and a PGCE, but I did and ended up teaching history
for 17 years.

Writing

When I was eight I asked my parents if I could have a petite
typewriter for Christmas. Once I got it I never looked back. I wrote poems,
songs and short stories which I would read to friends and family. They said
they enjoyed them ... I never stopped writing after that. All time I was teaching
a little flame of hope flickered at the back of my mind that I would write on
day. I never really believed I would be published though. It was still a
massive achievement for me to have become a teacher, let alone a writer. I wrote
my first novel in 2001 and I eventually had a novel published in 2012. I now
have five novels published and a further four waiting in the wings.

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog hop as much as I did
writing it, and now I pass the baton on to my friend and writer KellyFlorentia. She will post her blog on Wednesday 8th April.